brewery opening

Public Coast Brewing Opens in Cannon Beach on May 25th

The small coastal town of Cannon Beach, Oregon, gets its 3rd brewery when Public Coast Brewing joins the fray on May 25th, 2016. This new endeavor from Ryan Snyder of Martin Hospitality–the company that owns the local Surfsand Resort and Wayfarer Restaurant–joins 19 year old Bill’s Tavern and Brewhouse and the just opened Pelican Brewing Cannon Beach.

This mid sized-large restaurant and pub was previously the popular The Lumberyard Grill & Rotisserie and had one of the better selections of beer on tap in this quiet coastal community. While the most major renovation to the space is a brand new 10bbl brewery, the Martin Hospitality Group has taken aesthetic changes to reflect more of an Oregon brewpub vibe. There is much more exposed timber, including salvaged wood supports, new flooring built from salvaged and polished wood pallets, large wood booths, huge chamber doors, and large window views into the brewery.

Head Brewer Will Leroux stands on the brew deck just days after brewing his first batches at Public Coast Brewing

Brewing operations will be headed up by new brewer but award-winning chef Will Leroux, who jumps from heading up the company’s Resort and Restaurants food programs to head brewer. Will is a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont and has 30 years of experience as a chef. Will said, “Early in my career i was blessed to study with Madelaine Kamman in Napa Valley at the school for American chefs and have had the opportunity to cook at the Beard House in New York and DeGustbus, as well as mentoring two national bound teams for the Culinary Prostart.”

Will comes to brewing with a chef’s perspective and his own comparisons of brewing to baking; he finds the ingredients and science behind both to be similar. While studying up for his transition to becoming Public Coast’s Head Brewer, he went to Big Dogs Brewing in Las Vegas for a month to train.

Will is brewing on a new 10bbl brewhouse by JVNW with the help of brewery consultant and Oregon beer veteran Fred Bowman. The brewery is set up well with a grist case, a 20bbl fermenter and two 10bb fermenters and 5 brite tanks, two 20bbl brites and three 10s. His beers will be pub classics opening with an IPA, Amber Ale, Blonde and Stout out of the gates. While they may not be exciting styles, they are the type of beers that the locals and beach-going tourists will want to enjoy after or before a day on the surf.

Marcy Wood, the Marketing Director for Martin Hospitality, actually describes Public Coast Brewing’s primary goal as a welcoming place meant to serve beachgoers. Not surprising, since it’s 3 blocks from the Whale Park entrance to the beach and is named after the 363 miles of Oregon’s coast, 10 miles of that public coast line is the heart of Cannon Beach.

The problem with operating a large restaurant or pub in Cannon Beach is the small local population, many of them only living in town part-time. For this reason, not only does the business of the bars and restaurants fluctuate heavily on the season but so do the workers, many of them commuting from other cities like Seaside. So a larger restaurant has the problem of overstaffing and having to cut servers but then being far understaffed when business actually hits. That was a problem at Public Coast Brewing’s former life as The Lumberyard restaurant & pub. The Martin Hospitality group may have cracked the code with Public Coast Brewing, though.

Instead of needing an army of waiters to serve the 110 seats indoors and other 42 outside, the pub will utilize a service counter to take orders. Servers will be there to deliver your food with GPS trackers taken back to your table and assist with other necessities like condiments and bussing tables. Soft drinks and water are self serve at different stations. Can you still be comfortable hanging out at Public Coast? Large booths, a couple of well placed TVs and plenty of taps say yes. The food menu is well executed pub grub that includes beach town must-haves like fish & chips with local halibut, local fish like salmon, tuna, and rockfish join standards like a grass-fed burger, sausages, and even vegetarian and gluten-free options and plenty for children as well. Though there isn’t a separate bar, there is a small number of counter/bar seats and plenty of outside seating for the rare beautiful and non-rainy days on Oregon’s Public Coast.

Public Coast Brewing opens on Wednesday, May 25th. Full Service winter hours are noon to 8pm and noon to 9pm in the summer, though you will still be able to get beers a little later than those closing times.

Founder of The New School and most frequent contributor Ezra Johnson-Greenough has worked in the craft beer industry for almost 10 years, doing everything from illustrating beer labels to bartending at renowned beer bars and breweries like Belmont Station, Apex, Laurelwood and Upright Brewing. He has also had a hand in creating events like the Portland Fruit Beer Festival, Portland Beer Week, and the Brewing up Cocktails series. He is available for freelance consultation in marketing, events, graphic design and branding.
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The New School Beer aims to be the #1 source for craft beer, cider and mead industry news in the northwest. We focus on breaking stories about new breweries, new brands, openings, closings, reviews, interviews, videos and industry news and commentary from a variety of well connected contributors.